A Heart Bent Out of Shape by Emylia Hall Read Free Book Online

Lausanne, Hadley. It’s just another city, another country.’
    ‘You would say that, you’re . . . jet-set.’
    ‘Jet-set?’ She snorted with laughter. ‘I don’t think so. Anyway, we’re both here, so that makes us the same. And we do dive in, every day we do.’
    ‘Of course we do. The city’s ours.’ Hadley waved her hand and her bracelet, a linked chain of silver stars, slipped from her wrist. She let out a cry and Kristina reached to grab her, thinking it was Hadley who was falling. The bracelet had plummeted out of sight into the canopy of elm trees. They clung to one another, laughing.
    ‘I loved that bracelet!’ wailed Hadley.
    ‘Oh no, was it precious?’
    ‘It was to me.’
    ‘Did a boy give it to you?’
    ‘No, my mum.’
    ‘Oh God, it wasn’t an heirloom?’
    ‘Not exactly. It was two pounds, from a car boot sale. Nobody’s heirloom.’
    ‘You want to go and look for it?’
    ‘We’ll never find it. It’d be impossible.’
    ‘I don’t mean in the dark, but in the morning.’
    ‘It’s too steep, we’d practically need crampons and ropes. No, it’s gone. It’s okay, Kristina, it’s gone.’
    ‘We’ll get you a new one,’ said Kristina. ‘It was pretty. I noticed it the first day we met. It was made out of little silver stars, wasn’t it?’
    ‘They were all different sizes, and it looked kind of imperfect. That’s what I liked about it.’
    ‘We should go to one of those ateliers by the cathedral. You could draw it and I bet someone would be able to recreate it for you.’
    ‘I think it’d cost more than two pounds,’ said Hadley, ‘and it wouldn’t be the same anyway. No, it’s lost. Au revoir , my petit bracelet.’
    With a last wistful look below, Hadley climbed down from the railing. She held out her hand to Kristina who took it and jumped down beside her, landing as lightly as a dancer.
    When Hadley knocked for Kristina the next morning she wasn’t there. She breakfasted alone, for it was still too early for the others to rise. They had been in Lausanne for over a week now and she was beginning to understand their rhythms; she and Kristina were the only ones who chose to get up before midday unless they had to. Hadley made coffee and sat cross-legged in a chair, watching the light on the water. It was especially silvery that morning, and mist trailed its edges. She was mesmerised and still waking. She didn’t hear the door open and jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder.
    ‘God, you scared me.’ Hadley took in Kristina’s heavy boots and jogging top, the blush of her cheeks, and light sheen of perspiration on her brow. ‘You look . . . odd. Have you been out already?’
    ‘Since dawn, practically. I’ve been climbing. And scrambling. Little bit of sliding. I nearly gave up and then there it was, glinting at me.’
    Hadley’s mouth dropped open. ‘You didn’t . . .’ she began.
    Kristina opened her palm, and there it lay; a tiny heap of tangled silver stars.
    The day before the semester started, Bruno proposed an excursion. It was dry and bright, and from the balconies at Les Ormes you could see all the way into the mountains. The waters of Lac Léman invited voyage and adventure. Bruno was the only one among them who had a car, and he suggested that they all drive into the hills. He took the wheel, with Chase beside him, and Hadley, Kristina and Jenny packed into the back seat. They set off along the lake road, cutting through vineyards and shoreline villages. They saw houses that seemed to climb on top of one another with haphazard arrangements of rooftop and gable, pushing ever closer to the deep water’s edge. Chase popped a CD of hard rock into the player and Bruno took the corners faster than ever. Hadley wound down the window and let the whipping air slap her cheeks, until Jenny complained that her ears hurt and Kristina’s bare arms were dotted with goose pimples. She closed it reluctantly.
    Bruno drove them to an out of season ski